Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, and the rest of this remarkable cast share a common
comic bleakness, as well as, shall we say, a proclivity for profanity.
The
bleakness (well supported by Bruno Delbonnel's bruised cinematography) feels invigorating for the Coens: While many of their successes, from Barton Fink through A Serious Man, bump up against existential dread, they've never made do with so little
comic relief.